Acknowledgement of Country

Fossil Free Melbourne University acknowledges that we meet and work on what always was and always will be the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nations. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider Melbourne University community and beyond. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded in so-called Australia and we try to be mindful of this in everything we do.

The horrific environmental damage caused by the fossil fuel industry worldwide is just one symptom of ongoing genocide and ecocide perpetrated by colonial governments. Indigenous resistance against environmental degradation and the destruction of sacred land has been happening since long before the beginnings of campus divestment activism.

We aim to always respect and work with the Indigenous community. However, we must acknowledge that as an organisation and as individuals, Fossil Free MU is in a constant state of development in our solidarity with Indigenous struggles. We readily grapple with the complexities of living on this land that remains stolen and occupied, and acknowledge that we must never feel satisfied or passive in our involvement with this.

It is the responsibility of all non-Indigenous people to educate themselves on these issues, listen to a diversity of Indigenous voices, and reckon with their complicity in settler-colonialism. This is ongoing work that we encourage of all our non-Indigenous supporters.

Fossil Free Melbourne University acknowledge that as an organisation we meet and work on the land of the Wurundjeri in the Kulin nations. We pay respect to their Elders past and present, and acknowledge the pivotal role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the Australian community.